I'm Still Here
by That-deady-Girl
Summary: Follow Maewynne's journey through the prestigious High School, UA. Watch her grow from the anxious wallflower she wanted to stay, into the Hero her mother knew she could become, all while figuring out how to tell this guy he was her father! (Possible slow burn, pairings to be decided)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Anything's Possible

Maewynne shifted uncomfortably in front of the prestigious school of her dreams, UA. The tall gate stood ominously, casting a long shadow over her. Reporters swarmed the entrance, pushing her precariously to the edge of panic. She had only dreamt of this moment in her younger years. She didn't think she would _actually _make it_._ It had been a pipe dream filled with so many risks, but the rewards far outweighed anything else. She wanted to be a hero; someone her mother could be proud of. Mae wanted- no, she needed, to be someone that could protect others from the evils of the world, from villains. Every part of her future hinged on walking through this threshold.

"You know, you seem pretty hesitant for wanting to be a hero," a boy with purple hair paused next to her. "If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate. I know I won't if the opportunity arises," he prodded her on. He vaguely remembered her from the entrance exams. She had an interesting quirk that he hadn't been able to figure out in the short time he'd seen her in action.

"How'd you know I'm in the hero course?" she questioned, the lead in her shoes becoming lighter with every word she spoke. Mae followed him up to the school, trying to keep conversation. Distractions always helped her get through her minor anxieties.

The boy with the purple hair smirked at her, but she didn't sense any malice behind it. "I remember you from the entrance exam, it'd be impossible for you not to. So why hesitate now?"

"Oh! I remember you too! The Brainwash quirk! I'd remember that genetic layout anywhere," she broke out into a grin. She paused for a moment, contemplating her answer. "To answer your question, I'm a little nervous. I heard one of the teachers might be All Might."

His smirk smoothed back into his normal blank expression at the mention of the number one hero. "I didn't take you for a fan girl," he replied in a dull tone, feigning interest.

She gave a half-hearted laugh, smile falling slightly. "It's… a little more complicated than that," she whispered. Quickly, she changed the subject to something she hoped would be happier. "So, are you in my class then? They'd be insane not to have you in the hero course with your quirk. Imagine all the things you could do! All the lives you could save, just by asking the villain a question."

The purple haired boy stopped in his tracks, unsure of how to react. She quirked her head in confusion to his sudden halt. Everyone usually assumed he'd use his quirk for evil things, but this girl's first thought were the lives he could save. While the thought of not getting into the hero course was still a sore subject, the fact this girl thought he already was in her class outweighed his negative feelings for the time being.

"You know, you're pretty observant for someone I hardly know," he pointed out. Running a hand through his wild hair, he sighed. "I'm in the general studies section. I didn't make the cut." He tried not to sound bitter about it. "But there's always opportunities to transfer," He waited to gauge her reaction, intrigued by the girl he just properly met. He wanted to ask what she meant about his genetic layout, his curiosity piqued.

Her long black hair fell to her shoulders, unevenly chopped in the back. Her eyes stared into his own in shock, 'What an interesting shade of blue…' he thought to himself. He watched her pixie shaped face mirror his own initial disappointment. Looking away, she brought her thumb nail to her mouth and softly chewed but didn't bite her nail hard enough to take it off. He watched her eyes go to a far-off place, deep in thought. He silently started walking again and noticed her following beside him. He wondered what had crossed her mind to make her think so hard. They made it into the building without any fuss. In fact, Shinso wasn't so sure the girl even perceived they were getting closer to the first-year classrooms.

Finally, she stopped, and she stared into his eyes again, an excited light returned to diminish the disappointment. "The entrance exam was mostly a physical exam, so of course that would be harder on you. You should talk to your instructor about getting a capture weapon! Eraserhead is an awesome hero that erases people's quirks, but it does nothing for him physically. He's had to learn how to fight with just the mental quirk type he has. He's not very well known because he keeps out of the media, so I had to do some deep digging at the library," she rambled on for a moment while they resumed their walk once again to class. "Oh! I didn't introduce myself, I'm Maewynne. Thank you for walking with me, it really helped my nerves," she bowed, realizing she was standing just outside of classroom 1-A.

The purple haired boy shook himself out of his stupor, replying with a hint of a smile on his lips, "Shinso, it was good seeing you again."

"Likewise Shinso-kun, I hope to see you around!" Mae waved to him while entering her own classroom. She tried to steady her anxious breath, looking at all the students already there. Quickly finding her seat, she decided to peek at everyone's quirk.

A wide range of genetic codes flashed before her eyes. It was difficult to determine what each one did at a glance, but she had seen enough configurations that she pondered some educated guesses.

She gazed about swiftly, making quick mental notes to catalogue in her mental library. She spent so much time in an actual library, she researched memory retention methods at one point. Mae found it easier than toting around hundreds of notebooks on different quirks. She pictured herself writing down every quirk she came across, drawing the configurations of their DNA, but leaving spaces for names and special details. Mae would stare hard at each person, drawing in their face, their physique, along with rough measurements of each. Every student she did this to, she gave their own book, strewn out onto her mind's table for later sorting.

Her nerves were beginning to return as she was not adept at dealing with lager groups of people, and going to her mental library helped. She never knew how to handle herself in crowds because of how her middle school career had begun. One on one conversation she could handle. However, once that number started to grow, her social anxieties grew tenfold. Instead of trying to socialize with her peers she always found herself retreating to the mental 'library' she had created. Her eyes flowed carefully across the room again, this time to take a more in depth look at the quirks around her. The passive nature of her quirk activated without her trying.

Her quirk? DNA Switching. By looking at someone's genetic code, she could flip those switches in her own code to gain that quirk for a short period of time. There were limits of course. Physical mutation quirks, outside changing her eye and hair color, tend to be near impossible. If there were limbs that didn't already exist on her, then it wasn't possible to grow them. The one time she tried, it didn't end very well. In fact, it still induced nightmares. Caution and research were needed to use her quirk in a safe manner as she discovered at a young age.

"_Mommy, that girl has wings! I want wings!"_

"_Sweetie wait-"_

Mae's eyes finally reached the door she had come through just moments ago. Mae paused mid scan on two boys and a girl that stood there. She put the normal stats in her books, almost not catching the anomaly. After spending years categorizing genetic quirks she had seen, Mae stopped on the green hair boy standing nervously near the others. His jumpiness showed much worse than her own. At a quick glance, his coding looked indistinct, but with careful scrutinizing by Mae, something seemed off. The switches she saw flipped in a seemingly normal quirk code, looked as if they were being forced open and held in place. She studied further, drawing in her mind's eye what she saw, trying to make sense of it. Mae could have sworn she began to see different colors tied around each switch, intertwined with each strain. His body seemed to be adjusting well enough, albeit slowly.

"And I thought my quirk could be dangerous…" Mae muttered to herself, still in her library. "Maybe a late onset development triggered by something epic… I wonder how his body handles the use of it…" she noted specially in his book. With nothing more to note on the boy, she continued to scan everyone else.

"The hell are you staring at extra?!" the blond boy in front of her demanded. Mae snapped back to reality, not realizing she had been caught staring. She quickly faced forward again, embarrassed.

"That wasn't very manly of you Bakugo!" the red-haired boy beside him chastised. "You scared her!"

"Then get her to stop staring! Annoying extras," he slammed his hand on his desk. His glare burned the back of her head. Mae didn't have the nerve to turn around and face him yet, sweat beginning to pool on her forehead at the thought of sitting in front of this boy all semester.

"_Mae, you're so weird."_

"S-sorry!" Mae stuttered in apology. His attitude reminded her of people she didn't want to be reminded of. She took a deep breath, attempting to steel her nerves. Maewynne wanted to be a hero and she refused to flinch every time this violent jerk shouted at her. She wanted to leave that person she used to be behind. Mae decided that her best course of action would be to ignore him. Her gaze shifted between students again as she attempted to return to her library. The more quirk DNA sequences she memorized, the more she could practice using later after doing some people watching.

The red-haired boy broke her concentration again, waving a hand in front of her face. "I'm Kirishima, and that hot-head is Bakugo," He grinned with his abnormally sharp teeth. It was almost disconcerting… almost.

"Do you want to die asshole?!" Bakugo yelled, his whole body bristling in defense. Maewynne turned around this time, against her better judgement. Eyeing him, she cocked her head at the blonde trying to think of the best way to describe him for her notes later. "The hell are you staring at bambi?!"

"Explosive," Mae finally said softly bringing her fist down into her other palm in an aha! moment, not hearing his new nickname for her. The people that heard her attempted to hide their snickers, unable to control themselves. "S-sorry! I was trying to think of a way to describe you," she stuttered out, becoming aware of what she did. Her face heated in further embarrassment, she wanted nothing more than the floor to open up and swallow her whole.

"I-I'm Maewynne!" she turned to Kirishima, giving a timid smile back. She went with her original plan of attempting to ignore the temperamental blonde. His rantings and ravings behind her were difficult to disregard, but not impossible. She knew no matter what she said he'd just take it wrong regardless.

"I remember you! We were at the same entrance exam!" He said excitedly.

She looked over him carefully, looking at his familiar DNA code while skimming her library. "Oh! I know you! Your quirk was hardening your skin, right?" she replied, her nervousness melting away at the familiar face.

"Yea! That's cool you remembered my quirk! See, I told you you'd make it to the hero course. You were worried for nothing," he smiled brightly at her. His teeth still startled her, but she was becoming accustomed to them.

Mae had always been more inclined to be a wallflower socially, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Attention typically meant bad things. She began to realize within the few minutes of being here that she had a lot of adjusting to do if she wanted to be a hero…

"And I'm Kaminari," the shockingly blond boy cut in from his desk.

"I'm Sero, and Maewynne is a really pretty name," the boy with creepy elbows and jet-black hair added in his hasty introduction.

"N-nice to meet you all!" She stuttered out with a slight bow of her head.

Kirishima frowned slightly at her change in demeanor. So, he decided to do the manly thing. "Calm down would you guys? She's nervous."

"T-thank you Kirishima-chan," she stuttered her thanks again.

"Aww, don't keep the pretty girl to yourself Kirishima," Kaminari pouted. "We just want to get to know her too!" Another boy with hair that looked like large grapes stuck together gave him the thumbs up, nodding faster than Mae could keep up with.

Mae blushed furiously. "P-p-p-pretty?! I-I … um…" she fumbled over her words.

"We were in the same entrance exam section, I don't have to share," Kirishima grinned teasingly. "And didn't I tell you drop the honorifics? It's way too formal," he chastised her like when they first met. "You know, she might not look it," Kirishima continued, ignoring the uncomfortable look on Mae's face "but in the exam, she kicked some major ass!" Mae's face started to smoke, her brain threatening to overload. 'Would it be a faux pas to faint during first period?' she asked herself.

"Language!" an offended voice called from the other side of the room.

Bakugo sneered at the trembling, tense, girl. "This wimp? She couldn't hurt a fly!"

Kirishima looked about to argue on Mae's behalf, but a startling noise near the door quickly quieted the class. Mae couldn't help but be silently grateful for the attention shift. Her own gaze drifted to the door to see a… bright yellow worm person? No… no it was someone in a sleeping bag. Confusion spread through the class, not quite comprehending what was happening.

The worm spoke dully, as if bored to be there already. "If you're just here to make friends, you might as well pack up your stuff now." The man emerged from the caterpillar, his unamused face sending shivers through the classroom. "It took you eight seconds to be quiet, that's not gonna work." Mae studied his face. She took note of the scarf hanging loosely around his neck, his slightly blood shot eyes. She knew that face from her long days at the local library doing research on hero's. His profile was especially difficult to find, but well worth it. However…

She hadn't figured that EraserHead worked as a teacher at UA. She hadn't remembered reading that in his bio. Mae had to be more careful using her quirk in class, especially if her research had been correct. Despite this development, she still let herself relax a little. At least her homeroom wasn't All Might. She wasn't sure how she'd react, truthfully. She still hadn't fully processed everything even though so much time had passed. Too late now to doubt her decisions or change her mind as she decided the best course of action. Ignore her reservations and trudge through.

"Hello," he started in with an uninterested tone. "I'm Shota Aizawa and I'm your homeroom teacher." The class around her looked on in confusion. Their teacher was someone that just laid around in a sleeping bag? How did he still look so tired?! "Now, put these on and meet me outside," he continued, the bored tone sticking firm as he pulled a gym uniform from his sleeping bag.

Everyone made their way to the locker rooms quietly enough not to risk the teacher's wrath on the first day of school. The girls whispered amicably between each other once within the safety of the locker room walls. Mae should have guessed something like this might happen, this was a famous hero school after all.

"I hope this doesn't take too long," a girl with short brown hair mused. "We might miss orientation!" Mae listened from a stall preferring privacy when changing. She listened avidly wondering what school here had in store for her. Her middle school years left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she didn't want that to influence her any more than it already had.

"_This is why no one likes you Mae."_

She shook her head, straightened her uniform, and exited the room without a word to anyone. She could no longer listen to the idle chatter. Others followed suit and they made their way to the sports field. Aizawa stood off to the side, his tired eyes singling out the green haired boy while he spoke.

"You'll be doing a Quirk Assessment Test," he pushed on ignoring everyone's exclamations and groans of taking a standardized test on the first day of class. Mae, however, stood calculating eying the teacher suspiciously. A test out in the field meant all the tests would be purely physical. Mae had to decide which quirks to use or if she wanted to use more than one. She didn't know how the quirks around her worked yet, so she'd have to use ones she already had filed away in her library. That meant half of them would be useless as they were all mentally based quirks.

In her own thoughts, she began pulling out "books" on quirks that she had filed under the "physical utility" section. She vaguely heard the brunette say something about orientation again, "If you're really going to make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies," he cut the girl off, an edge cutting through his bored tone. "Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class how I see fit," he paused at a few worried gasps in the group. "You've been taking standardized tests all your lives, but you've never got to use your quirks."

Aizawa held up a palm planner with multiple tests to be done. Mae eyed it worriedly. She didn't want to fully showcase her quirk yet. Not this early in the semester as it could garner too much attention. She preferred to keep some element of surprise. Not to mention, she already didn't feel comfortable with being so noticed in class. The 'explosive' blonde's glare from earlier burned holes into her face. He noticed her change in her demeanor, he didn't want to believe that shaking leaf from earlier looked so calculating now. Something didn't sit right.

"Not everyone is created equal, and one day the education administration will learn," the teacher stated, pulling Maewynne out of her planning. She wasn't sure what she had missed, but Bakugo's stare had become unbearable.

"Bakugo," he motioned to the mentioned boy. "You received the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest throw when you were in Junior High?"

Mae rolled her eyes, unable to help herself. Of course, the biggest asshole of the class had to have the highest points. As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't miss the opportunity to add his quirk to her arsenal. She couldn't tell offhand what quirks would be useful or how they worked until she saw them in action extensively. She hoped that Aizawa wouldn't notice as she scribbled in Bakugo's book mentally.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at her, unsure of what she did, he only knew she activated her quirk. It hadn't affected Bakugo's throw, so he let it go for the moment. He'd have a word with her later.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities, it's the most rational way to figure out your potential as a pro-hero," he held up the palm pilot to show Bakugo's outrageous score. Bakugo turned with a smirk forgetting all about the 'extras'. He had nothing to worry about.

"I want to go! This looks like fun!" a pink girl smiled, excited at the opportunity to showcase her quirk.

The black-haired boy Sero pumped a fist into the air, "All right! We get to use our quirks all we want?!"

"So, this sounds like fun?" Aizawa's expression turned into something dangerous. Mae snapped back into place, fear crawling up the back of her neck. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and play time? Idiots," he grinned darkly. "Today you'll compete in eight tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately."

The other students around her bristled in nervous surprise, but Mae stayed stone still. She didn't have to be the best, so long she didn't come in last. She didn't want to underestimate everyone's quirk, so she'd still have to bring her A game. Hopefully she had a chance to see everyone else's capabilities first. Mae's gaze drifted back to the messy haired boy, not remembering his name. Seeing him so nervous, as horrible as it sounded, made her feel better. The boy looked absolutely terrified and to Mae that meant she had an advantage over him at least.

The bright sun beat down on everyone on the field, sweat barely started to glisten when everyone began to line up for each test. Mae felt herself fall into a familiar place. Losing wasn't an option here, so she wouldn't. Mae might not be able to handle people, but when there was a concise goal for her, she got it done. Her eyes looked focused during the whole excursion, almost robotically.

When all was said and done, Mae felt confident she wasn't in last place. She almost didn't remember doing it and it concerned her. Her face conveyed some of her confusion, but she tried to pull it together.

"Wow Mae that was amazing!" a little grape head and a lisp exclaimed after she finished her throw strong. He had some drool escaping the side of his mouth, his eyes zeroed in on her chest. Mae, startled and at a new level of uncomfortable, jumped behind Kirishima for cover.

Kirishima laughed, "Told you she's pretty badass. How did you do that move with the ball? You made it go almost as far as Bakugo's!"

She froze in panic, not wanting to attract the blonde's attention again. Thankfully, he was too busy fuming over his apparent rival Deku's quirk.

Mae looked back at Kirishima, trying to think of what he meant. "I uh… I'm not sure actually." It worried her more than she let on. She hadn't used her quirk like that in two years and she had hoped to break the habit.

If Kirishima noticed, he didn't say anything to her about it. So instead, she went back to her current object of curiosity:

Izuku, Mae learned was his real name, ended up in last. She caught herself staring at his DNA sequence, as well as Aizawa's, during their earlier exchange in the ball throwing portion of testing. She hoped the teacher didn't notice her using her quirk on him as well, the opportunity to see Eraser Head's quirk in action had been too good to pass up. One thing about the event had confused her: the boy's quirk looked strained. Almost as if it were being used wrong. She had concluded definitively he came into it only recently. What could possibly cause such a mutation in his genetic code? It annoyed her to no end. So much, in fact, that she might get the courage to ask him about it.

"Most of you did well and the rest, well, there's room for improvement," he drolled on again, seemingly bored once more. He quirked his head to the side, coming to a decision. "And I lied, no one's going home." Blank stares gazed upon their teachers now nearly demonic face. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all during the tests." The whole class nearly rioted.

The girl that came in first, Momo Yaoyorozu, face palmed. "I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure it out. I guess I should have said something."

Mae nearly fainted. The closer you are to the top, the bigger the target sits on your back. She came in sixth today, two below the guy that scored the best on the entrance exam. He already didn't like her, and her irrational fear worried that it would make the situation worse. When she noticed his full glare turned on Izuku, her knees buckled under her in relief.

"Yea, it was pretty nerve wracking, wasn't it, Mae?" Sero joked while breathing his own sigh of relief.

Kirishima kneeled down, a bright sharp toothed grin aimed at her. "C'mon Mae, like you had anything to worry about. Besides, competing is great!" She hesitantly took his outstretched hand letting him help her up.

"_Ha! Look at this loser on the ground!"_

"I-I-I…" she shook her head, "Th-thanks Kirishima." She talked just fine earlier. She talked to Kirishima just fine normally, and even Shinso. Why was it her new classmates made her so nervous? 'Don't answer that', she told herself. Mae knew full well why she acted this way, she just didn't know how to change it. Nor, if it would change. Who knows? They could end up just like her old school, then she could work on being invisible again. Nothing against the girl in class that actually was invisible. Toru was it? On second thought, her quirk might come in handy.

"We're done for the day, pick up your syllabus in the classroom and read it over by tomorrow morning. You're dismissed," The teacher started to walk away. He paused in front of Midorya, handing him a note. "Go see the old lady and she'll fix you up. Be prepared for tomorrow, that's when your real training begins." He started to walk away again but paused. "Maewynne, I need to have a word with you."

Fear coursed through her at the mention of her name. A few 'oooo's' in her peer group didn't help the matter. They walked far enough out of ear shot before he turned to her; his own eyes still bored but calculating. Mae spoke softly, a slight shake in her voice. "Yes, Mr. Aizawa?"

"We need to discuss your quirk usage. I said you could use your quirk for the test, and you used it before yours, and during homeroom. Mind explaining?" He raised a brow. He left out the part of her using her quirk on him, testing her.

Mae paled, but it wasn't the worst thing he could ask about. "I… well sir, part of my quirk is looking at DNA sequences of other people's quirks and how they're used. It helps me decide if I can use those quirks or not…" she fiddled with her hands, feeling like she was in trouble. "B-but it's only the passive side of it, promise! It doesn't affect other's quirks!"

Aizawa eyed her, looking for a crack in her explanation. He finally sighed, not wanting the girl to wet herself. "Very well, make sure not to use it during class unless specified, like here. You should be focused more on your class than your classmates. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir!" Mae ran off without him telling her twice.

Despite the lecture, she was excited about the short day. Being out early meant she could do some work for the day. If she was honest with herself, she needed the recoup from the social overload. Maybe she'd even treat herself to some takoyaki. Without saying anything to anyone else, she slipped through the locker rooms.

Mae desperately hoped her school life improved from here.

**Hey everyone! I hope you liked the first chapter of Iris, Chapter 2 is almost done so it should be up next week. I'll be attempting a weekly upload (we'll see anyway) and let me know how you like it! If you have any ships, be sure to raise the flag in the reviews!**

**(also, as a side note, I of course own no one in this story except Maewynne and a few other Oc's)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Here Comes the Sun

_Spring. Another season down in the books for Souzahara. The apartment still needed cleaning, but her adorable ball of sunshine sat cross-legged in front of her. Cleaning could wait. The dust moved slowly in the air, disturbed by the cool breeze drifting in from the patio window. Daisies picked just for her sat on the table. For all the happiness in her life, Souzahara still felt as though a piece of her was missing, a void that remained unfilled. After the birth of her daughter though, that void felt easier to bear, so Mae became her whole focus. _

"_Mom, how come I don't get to meet dad?" A little girl with long dark hair sat by a well-worn kotatsu. Her blue eyes stared straight ahead while her mother played with the inky black curls. _

_Souzahara's hands paused in their movements. This was much sooner than she anticipated for 'the talk'. Catching herself, she continued to run her fingers through the silky tresses. She stayed quiet for a moment, trying to decide how to proceed. The wind blew a little harder through the window, the heady scent of lilacs outside floated in, the delicate white blooms having just reached their peak. The normally peaceful rustling of the flowers seemed loud in the sudden silence. _

"_What brought this on Mae?" she asked carefully._

_The girl brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them protectively. Even facing away from her, Souza felt the uncertainty in her eyes. In the quietest voice she ever heard from her daughter, she said, "It's just… at school. The other kids get picked up by their dad's sometimes, and I was just wondering, that's all… you don't haft ta answer mommy, I know you miss him lots…"_

_Souzahara's heart clenched for her little girl. "Oh sweetie, you know you don't have to be afraid to ask. Anything you want to know about him I'll tell you."_

"_Then why can't I meet him?" the little girl asked desperately. She wanted what the other kids had. She wanted a whole family. She stared at her bare feet observing the tiny pebbles pressed into the pads of skin that she had accumulated while she had been running about outside in the fresh clean air. She flexed her bare feet to knock them off, careless to where they fell, the mats under her needed a good cleaning anyway. _

_Souzahara sighed, unprepared but ready to spearhead the conversation. "I'm so sorry my little Wynnie. Your father would love to meet you, it's just too dangerous to do that right now."_

_Frustrated the girl turned around, her blue eyes practically sparking with fire in them. "But why? Even for a little bit?"_

_Souza paused, her slender hand resting on her chin, trying to think of how to word everything right. "Your father, he does wonderful things. He saves lives daily. This also means that he puts bad guys away. Some bad guys are harder to catch than others. If you were to be taken or hurt by any of them, we just couldn't forgive ourselves."_

_Mae deflated, turning back to the table. It remained silent in the room, spare for the occasional jingle of the windchime. Souza heard the sadness in her quiet voice when she finally said, "It's all my fault…"_

Mae sat forward abruptly, a book falling to her lap. A noise below her told her the morning librarian had arrived already, signaling she would be late for school if she didn't hurry. She hastily replaced the book onto the shelf fumbling as she went. She grabbed her bag and nearly tumbled down the spiral stairs.

The librarian clucked at her. "You're gonna be late Mae. Stayed up too late reading, didn't you?"

"Sorry Miss Hen. I locked myself in a tower waiting for the handsome Lancelot to rescue me!" she called back sprinting into the bathroom.

Robin Hen shook her head at the child but chuckled to herself. Pulling an apple from her purse, she held it out while simultaneously going over book logs for the day with her other hand. "Shallot for the night eh? Here's something for you to eat, you're much too skinny."

The apple disappeared along with a burst of wind blustering toward the door. "Thank you! Wish me luck!" Mae called back, her uniform pulled on haphazardly. Her tie sat crooked and her skirt backwards. Robin clucked some more, bustling to get to the girl before she left for school.

Mae stood frozen, the apple hanging in her mouth, hand on the door. The woman with the face of a bird puttered over to her. She sighed and straightened the poor child out. She gave satisfied cluck, waving her a seal of approval. "I'll leave some laundry soap for you in the usual place along with some dinner. You'll be here again tonight, yes?" Mae nodded, busy chewing on the apple. "All right, go, before you're late."

The girl sprinted out the door once given permission. Robin muttered to herself all the way back to her desk. "Girl is lucky she comes to my library. BAGOCK!" she cawed to herself. "Hopefully she sorts everything out soon. BAGOCK! No way for a youngin like her to be livin…" Robin clucked away, going back to opening work.

Worn tennis shoes hit the pavement hard. Mae sprinted through the reporters the best she could, ducking and dodging flying elbows. She had almost made it through until a stray microphone clotheslined her to the ground. Her guardian angel must have taken the day off. She groaned from her new residence of the rough cement. She raised her head just in time to catch the little grape headed perv from class staring over with a dazed look and- seriously?! A nose bleed?!

"Perfect," she breathed, laying her head back down in defeat. Mae thought back to her inner monologue yesterday. "I fucking jinxed myself!"

The light shifted behind her closed eyes, forcing her to look at her surroundings again. "You okay?" a concerned voice questioned. At least, as concerned as Shinso could force himself sound. An angry red mark on Mae's forehead glared back at him. Her eyes looked at his pitifully. Wordlessly, he offered his hand. "Let's go before we're late."

"Thank you Shinso-chan, I appreciate it," she pulled herself up with his help. She heaved a fed-up sigh, brushing off the dirt from her backside.

"Rough morning?" he asked, beginning their walk into prestigious the building.

Mae slumped forward slightly, head hanging in defeat. "I could have done without my classmate catching a panty shot…"

Shinso bristled for a second, wondering which one it was. "Are you sure someone saw?" Mae didn't bother to look up, she just pointed to the trail of blood forming behind the boy walking to class in a daze. Shinso raised a brow but didn't comment further.

She straightened her back and forced a soft smile to her face, urging herself to move past the "exciting" events of the morning. "How was your first day?"

Shinso shrugged, first days all seemed the same to him. "It's general studies, nothing exciting."

"We did a quirk assessment test, didn't even make it to orientation," Mae explained her own day without prompting. "The homeroom teacher told us whoever was in last place would be expelled, crazy right?" Shinso remained silent, staring ahead. Mae deflated a bit, hoping she didn't upset her new friend. He shrugged in acknowledgement, not caring to hear about the class he didn't get into. They reached Mae's class first. Shinso barely stopped, he just waved goodbye and walked toward his own class.

Mae entered while taking a deep breath. After entering, Tenya Iida (if she noted his name right in her mental files) rushed over, hands moving into a somewhat robotic gesture.

"Miss Maewynne! Your uniform is filthy! You should hold yourself to higher standards and take pride in your appearance. Not to mention the code of conduct specifically states your uniform remain clean and presentable at all times!" he scolded her in the doorway.

Maewynnne bowed deeply in apology, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I-I- I didn't mean to… I w-w-w-was trying to get through the reporters and fell…"

Mineta's nosebleed started up again across the room at the reminder. He nodded his head vigorously at Iida, flashing him a thumbs up. "That panty shot will be forever ingrained in my mind!"

The electric blond, Kaminari if Mae remembered correctly, freaked out. "Wait, you saw her panties?!" he exclaimed to the class. Iida's face turned a bright tomato red. Robotically, he changed direction and sat in his seat.

"That is inappropriate!" Iida shouted at his classmate after composing himself.

Mae rushed to her chair, willing the earth to swallow her whole. She let her head fall to the desk with a solid 'thunk'. Aizawa entered shortly after, and Mae's second day of school was underway.

Despite the shaky start to her morning, school was something she excelled at. The hero class took general education classes like a normal high school. If it wasn't for the last class of the day, Mae could have sworn it was like every other education system. She loved the reprieve to listen to her teachers without her peer's attention on her. During lunch she hid out in the established library on campus ogling their selection. Her eyes shined with stars when she first entered the room. The librarian shrugged her off and let her explore the sections on her own. If she had the choice, she'd be in there all day.

Mae sighed in resignation when the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Her hopes of getting to class inconspicuously were dashed by the brilliantly red headed boy jogging to catch up to her.

"Hey Mae! How's your day going? I didn't see you at the cafeteria today," Kirishima slowed his pace to match hers.

"Hello Kirishima-chan! I spent most of the period checking out the library," she smiled brightly at him. "They have such a huge selection, I could stay in there for days!"

Kirishima gave her an odd look, unable to see her excitement in books. "You must really like books, huh Mae?"

"_Mae's such a nerd."_

Mae looked back down at her feet, her excitement dimming. "Yeah, reading is one of my favorite ways to pass time."

Kirishima raised his arms over his head, has hands on his neck nonchalantly. "I never really got into books, but I love to hit the arcade after school! I guess if there was an arcade here, I'd probably end up in there during my free time too."

Mae raised her head, pleasantly surprised with the red head. For Mae, his comment felt like a single ray of sunlight peeking through her cloudy day, her world shining a little brighter from his kind words. Maybe this time things could be different here. The little girl in her hoped, but the logical side, as usual, won out. She was here to become a hero. Friends were a luxury.

Then, Mae's bad luck came to a head. They were at their last class for the day, and their anticipated teacher: All Might. The other students in the room whispered amongst themselves. Midoriya looked especially excited. She fiddled with her hands under her desk, not sure what to expect in person. As if her mind summoned him, he flounced into the room.

"I AM HERE! ENTERING THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!"

A blank look passed over Mae's face, her mind wrapping around the man's entrance. Everyone else's excitement roared around her. Mae's mind came to an abrupt conclusion: He's a dork. All Might… is a dork. She heard comments about him wearing his retro costume, but Mae focused on him. Outwardly, he looked the very hero she saw in the news. She turned on her quirk, despite Aizawa's warning. She wanted to know more about the famed Number One Hero. His DNA looked strange… almost reminding her of the student Midoriya.

All Might snapped her out of musings with his booming voice. "Welcome to the most important class at UA. Think of it as Hero-ing 101," he pranced to the front of the class ending with his superhero pose, smile permanently plastered on his face. He vaguely reminded Mae of a peacock, strutting his stuff, his smile blinding even under the fluorescent lighting. "Here you will learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good! Let's get to it!"

Despite his nerdy entrance, Mae saw the excitement to teach in his words. His expertise was evident from his speech. If nothing else, his excitement brimmed to bursting in his dialogue.

"Today's lesson will pull no punches!" He extended his arm with a card reading 'Battle!'

Behind her, she felt the temperature raise. Against her better judgement, Mae slowly turned around. Her eyes met with the fiery ones of Bakugo's, his face demonic with excitement. She nearly gave herself whiplash from how fast she turned back around. Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him. That's what she told herself yesterday, why had she decided to turn around?! She gripped her hands together hard, back straighter than ever. She willed the nervous sweat back into their pores.

"Combat training?" a timid voice asked.

All Might continued, pointedly ignoring the classes excitement, "But one of the keys of being a hero is…" he wound up his arm, "Looking good!" He threw his arm **out** to **indicate** a wall, revealing several cases.

Mae felt a single sweat drop fall from her forehead. This guy… was the number one hero?

"These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you put sent in before school started," All Might explained further, eager to see his student's costumes for the first time.

Everyone buzzed with excitement, even Mae. She remembered thinking hard on what she wanted her costume to look like. It would need to have a versatility to it, allowing for full range of motion. Some of the quirks she had banked, such as super strength, cause small changes such as bulging muscles (though not nearly as prominent as All Might's). There was one thing she made sure to get on her costume, a vital sign tracker. Due to the nature of her quirk, keeping track of her vital signs allowed her to keep herself from becoming genetically unstable. It didn't hurt to keep an eye on the toll her DNA switching caused either.

The entirety of the costume needed to stretch, so she opted for spandex. Unfortunately, that also meant it would be form fitting. The only thing not spandex were her shorts and her vital sign watch. Her purple shorts were loose fitting, covering the black leggings that ran underneath. Her black tank top tucked into her shorts, leaving her shoulders bare. This allowed her max rotation. Her left forearm had a single purple spandex cuff and inlaid was a small screen. The cuff had a black cross resembling a medical symbol. Originally, it didn't feel 'Pro Hero' enough for her, so she added in a variation of steam punk goggles. She'd be the first to admit it was silly at first, but after some thought on functionality, she added in some magnifiers to the lenses to allow her to see DNA sequences from a distance. The lenses also had a one-way reflection to them, an idea taken from Eraserhead's goggles, so no one could tell who she was studying. There was also a utility belt hanging off the waist to hold onto things such as gloves for evidence, and medical supplies for emergencies. The costume ended with ankle high black combat boots, the stiffest she could find to support her ankles. Mae knew she had some clumsy tendencies if she wasn't in her focused zone, so she prepared for that too.

If this morning had any foreshadowing, she felt relieved at the choice.

"Get yourselves suited up and met me at Training Grounds Beta!" His voice thundered.

Everyone grabbed for their assigned costume case, ecstatic to see their visions turn from drawings into reality. Mae sat for a moment in the locker room with the case sitting open in her lap, taking in her hard work. For a long time, it had been difficult to picture herself as a hero. She had no idea what her costume should look like and if it hadn't been for Miss Hen, she'd end up in just her gym uniform. She carefully ran her hands over the sturdy screen attached to the glove.

"_Wow mom! Your costume is so cool! When I become a hero, do you think my costume will be as cool as yours?"_

Mae shook herself out of the memory, hearing the other girls changing already. 'Come on Mae, get it together,' she chastised herself. Giving her cheeks a light slap for good measure, she changed quickly, relishing the feel her costume as it slid on perfectly. Taking a deep breath, she exited the stall. Mae gazed at everyone's costumes in awe. From what she saw of the girls, they all had a clear idea of what they wanted. Fiddling with the end of her glove, Mae felt underwhelming standing in her own.

"Hey Mae! I like your costume," Uraraka smiled at the timid girl, waving her over. Mae felt a light blush dusting her cheeks, the compliment coming unexpectedly.

"T-t-thank you Uraraka-chan," Mae bowed slightly. "I… I like yours too."

"Really? Thanks! It's definitely a lot tighter than I wanted though. Oh well, what can you do?" the brunette sighed at her plight. She continued to smile while walking with Mae out of the room, their boots clacking against the linoleum floors. "I wonder what we're doing? I know he said combat training, but do you think it's gonna be those robots again?"

The pair followed a sign that pointed toward the Beta Training grounds, meeting some of the boys along the way. "I don't think so. We're probably going to face each other," Mae theorized. "Sparring hand to hand would be more beneficial than just constantly facing objects."

"You know, you remind me of Deku. He's pretty smart too!" she pointed her finger at Mae. Uraraka's eyes lit up for a moment, looking over Mae's shoulder. "Hey Deku! I like your costume! It's not super flashy." She bashfully rubbed the back of her pink helmet. "I should have been more specific about what I wanted. This body suit is skintight and it's not exactly my style."

Mae watched the boy faun over the girl. He had a crush on her, if his pink tinged cheeks were anything to go by. 'They're kinda cute,' she smiled at the pair.

Mineta showed up out of thin air, giving a thumbs up. "I love this school."

Mae jumped back, not wanting to be near the little pervert. Midoriya and Uraraka talked together, leaving her alone again. Not that she really minded as she had kept to herself all day. She looked at everyone's costumes again, they all fit the personalities of the wearer. Mae did a double take between Deku's costume and All Might. If it wasn't for the color of Midoriya's suit, she swore it might have been modeled after the number one hero.

"Uh, hi Maewynne," the object of her thoughts greeted nervously. He turned slightly, trying to include her. Mae waved her greeting back, not wanting to default back into her stutter again.

All Might caught the attention of the class again, once everyone arrived. "Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training!" His voice carried through the fake city around them.

The boy in the front everyone raised his hand. "Sir!" Mae stared at his DNA layout, determining that it was Iida under the full body armor. "This is the fake city from our entrance exams. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?" he asked, his posture stiff and professional. The school that Mae went too before this didn't have too many of his type. His strict to-the-book attitude felt oddly refreshing.

"Not quite!" All Might through up the 'peace sign' with a dramatic flair. "I'm going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the dastardliest evildoers take place indoors," he put emphasis on his words. His voice reminded Mae of a talk show host. "Think about it. Back room deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows," All Might switched to another heroic pose. "For this exercise, you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles!"

Mae bristled at the thought. She hoped she could handle herself today. The frog quirk girl, Tsuyu if Mae remembered right, asked with a tilt of her head, "Isn't this a little advanced?"

All Might brought his hand into a fist, fired up for the class. "The best training is what you get on the battlefield! But remember, you can't just punch a robot this time. You're dealing with actual people now!" Mae chanced a glance to Midoriya, his face the epitome of seriousness and focus. Mae followed his example, mentally preparing herself for what lay ahead.

"Will you be determining what team wins?"

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like earlier?"

"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skill?"

"Isn't this cape très chic?"

The last question broke Mae's ability focus at the absurdity of it. She raised her brow at the ostentatious blond with the belly laser. Mae didn't like to judge anyone, heavens know she'd been judged enough, but the thought did cross her mind on how he came to be in the hero course.

All Might growled in frustration at the interruptions. His face contorted slightly, trying to keep his cool. "I wasn't finished talking!" he ground out. Whipping out a book too small for his giant hands, he called out, "Listen up! The situation is this: The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evil doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes." All Might pulled out a bright yellow box. Mae looked back and forth in concern, wondering just where he pulled that hefty boxy from. "Time's limited and we'll chose teams by drawing lots!"

"Isn't there a better way?" Iida prompted, unsure of the idea of teaming up with people he wasn't familiar with.

Midoriya leaned toward his friend, excited for the exercise to begin. "Think about it, pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing that here." Mae nodded in agreement, but still hoped she ended up with a good partner.

"Yes, I see," Iida agreed in afterthought. "Life is a random series of events. Pardon my rudeness," he bowed in apology to the teacher. One by one, they began to pair off.

'Not Bakugo, not Bakugo,' Mae chanted in her head as she carefully reached into the box, willing her hand not to shake. Rolling the ball over in her hand, she saw the letter J glinting back at her. Relief flooded her, as she had caught a glance at Bakugo's letter D.

Kirishima grinned toothily at her while brandishing his matching letter. He jogged over, quick to grab her hand and drag her away. He exuberantly expressed his eagerness to strategize with Mae. The little he knew about her, he knew he'd need to get her away from the crowd of students to work on a game plan. Plus, he was curious about her quirk. He had seen it in action a few times and wondered if she had a sort of super strength.

Mae stumbled over her feet. Kirishima nearly yanked her wrist out of its socket in his excitement. He looked around for a moment as everyone started to file into the building following All Might. Looking over her shoulder, Mae barely caught the teacher pulling out D and an A from the villain and hero boxes. She felt puzzled about when those boxes were brought out.

"This should be a good enough distance. I know you're kinda shy, so I thought you'd want to strategize back here instead of in front of everybody," he smiled sharply. Momentarily taken aback, Mae didn't know what to say. "Sorry! I just noticed you stutter less when there aren't as many people."

Mae paused, not used to the consideration. "T-t-thank you, Kirishima-chan. That was really thoughtful of you."

He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, almost embarrassed at the praise. "Well, I figured it'd be easier to get a game plan is all. Actually, I don't know much about your quirk. Mine is that I can make my body hard as stone. If I remember right, yours is super strength, right?" He questioned, keeping them to the back of the class while the teams set up their building.

Mae shook her head no. Knowing that in order to work together effectively, she'd have to give full disclosure of the parameters of her quirk. "Honestly, it's a little more complicated than that. Technically, I can use super strength, but I can use other quirks too."

"Wait, what do you mean other quirks?" he raised a questioning brow.

"So, my quirk is called DNA Switch. The easiest way to explain is that I can flip some switches around in my DNA into a configuration of someone else's quirk. I'd have to study it extensively to know how it works, so there's only a few DNA sequences that I've really mastered. Super strength is one of them. I also learned how to use a quirk that can generate shields, along with a medical type quirk for healing," Mae went with the simplest version she could think of. Pulling her arm up, she turned on the screen. "I have to be careful when switching my DNA around though, one bad quirk switch and my DNA can become unstable."

Kirishima stared in awe as her screen flashed her vital signs to him. "So, wait, you can use my quirk if you wanted to?"

"Yes and no. If I took a few hours to see how to use your quirk, I'd be able to at least activate it. However, it wouldn't be nearly as effective as you using it. I'm also able to see everyone's DNA sequences with the passive side of my quirk. It's why I'll get really spaced out while staring at people," Mae admitted.

"Oh! So that's why you were staring down Bakugo in class yesterday," Kirishima theorized out loud. Mae nodded self-consciously. "Your quirk is amazing! I mean, I knew you were pretty badass, but I had no idea!" His enthusiastic praise caused her cheeks to flush, but thankfully the room went dark. The first round of training began.

Mae turned forward, eyes locking onto the screen. Like second nature, her eyes scanned over the people preparing for their fight. She stared raptly in anticipation, keen to see the quirks in action to analyze later. Iida stayed with the weapon to guard it while Bakugo rushed off. His temper caught on screen with the exploding walls around him. Mae noted that his actions didn't seem like _just_ a training exercise. This almost seemed more personal as the attacks centered toward Midoriya. The villain team seemed sloppy; the teamwork nonexistent.

'Well, wonder boy can't be good at everything,' Mae mused to herself. Being number one is a lonely place if you can't work with anyone.

Mae stared on in concern watching the power building in Bakugo's gloves. If Midoriya didn't use his quirk soon, it'd be likely they'd lose. His maneuvering during Bakugo's first attack had been impressive enough, but more akin to a one hit wonder. His opponent hadn't expected a fight out of him, throwing Bakugo off kilter, but recovery hadn't taken long. Midoriya should have known the same trick wouldn't work again.

Mae watched Bakugo bring his arm up to aim his gauntlet directly at Midoriya. Mae paled at the thought of a blast of that magnitude hitting the poor boy. Why hadn't All Might stopped this? Wasn't he supposed to intervene? She glanced over, hearing other murmurs of concern. She saw him gripping his microphone tightly. His body ridged with indecision.

The blast vibrated the whole set. Students around her murmured in concern for their fellow students. Mae waited for the smoke to disperse in anticipation. She hoped Midoriya had dodged, but the radius of the blast seemed massive. Her heart hammered in her chest, a new unfamiliar feeling snaking its way through her. She watched in trepidation at the heated exchange, a part of Midoriya's mask falling away revealing his determined face. Her scan revealed he was mostly unharmed save for some burns here and there.

Bakugo's temper burned even brighter, if that were possible. The sheer inferno brewing on his face brought the foreign feeling back tenfold. An ember sparked in her heart, exciting Mae at the thought of witnessing the conclusion of combat. Her eyes zeroed in on Midoriya, his DNA shifting via his quirk powering up. She didn't hear All Might warn the two to stop until it was too late.

A massive explosion went through the building. A hole transcended floors up to where Uraraka faced off with Iida. Mae's mouth parted open at the realization. Deku hadn't aimed for Bakugo. His focus, while it appeared to be on his fight, was on the true goal: getting Uraraka to the weapon. Midoriya's arm hung loosely at his side heavily damaged, if not shattered, at the force of the attack. Mae saw the tears in his eyes as he spoke words to Bakugo that no one in the room with her could hear.

The fight stirred something deep within Mae. The ember of the fire she felt at their exchange growing to fill the pit of her stomach. She glanced over at Kirishima, his face mirroring her own. Never before had she felt the need to win or compete, but the inspiring battle she witnessed felt like kindling had been thrown on the flames blazing through her.

Mae nodded to her partner, eyes sharing the same thoughts. 'We're going to fight, and we're going to win.'

**A/N As usual, I do not own anyone but my OC's. Thank you so much for the reviews so far! You guys are great! It was a little later than I had hoped, but I wanted to make sure that it was looked over. Tell me what you think in the reviews, and remember, if you want an alert for when I update, you have to click the box at the bottom for the alert (and I mean you're also more than welcome to hit the favorites one too) Big fight coming soon!**


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